Der Blogger

"Enough is enough!" "This can't go on!" "This has to stop!" These were among the comments that came through the blizzard of commentary after the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County. We have heard these words before.

Wanderlust

As a travel destination, Germany has never been more popular. With tourist numbers forecast to rise for an eighth consecutive year, what is the country doing right to account for its thriving visitor numbers?

Akademia

For education experts, English language lessons have proven valuable in primary schools in North Rhine-Westphalia. But the Alternative for Germany’s state parliamentary group in NRW have a rather different view.

Essen & Trinken

Police in the city of Osnabrück had to clear crowds in front of a new döner kebab shop on Tuesday, after about 150 hungry people packed the street outside, eager to get their hands on a döner for only €0.01.

Germericana

Many Americans have German ancestors — and that's also the case for actress Meghan Markle, who will be marrying Prince Harry, himself a descendant of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, a German dynasty.

Flixbus resurrects budget train service to take on might of Deutsche Bahn

Germany’s leading long-distance bus operator Flixbus on Wednesday said it had joined forces with a Czech company to rescue the crowd-funded rail start-up Locomore and get its trains back on the rails.

Services on the Berlin-Stuttgart line would resume on August 24th, Flixbus said in a statement, adding that tickets could be booked through the Flixbus network.

As part of the rescue deal for insolvent Locomore, the Czech transport firm Leo Express will take over rail operations.

“We are convinced that through the Flixbus network we can attract the passenger numbers needed to ensure a sustainable operation of the Locomore routes even at low ticket prices,” Flixbus managing director Andre Schwaemmlein said in the statement.

Locomore, which billed itself as the world’s first crowd-funded train service, launched to great fanfare last December after attracting some €600,000 in start-up capital from online supporters.

Hoping to challenge the might of Deutsche Bahn, it began running a daily return service from Stuttgart to Berlin that passed through Frankfurt and Hanover, at lower prices than those of the German state rail operator.

But bookings were slow and, after struggling with high maintenance costs, Locomore filed for insolvency in May.

To mark the resumption of Locomore’s services, Flixbus said it was offering long-distance train tickets from €9.90 while charging five euros for shorter stretches.

Passengers who had contributed to the crowd-funding effort would receive free tickets, Flixbus said.

Before it went into administration, Locomore said its refurbished 1970s train, which retained a retro look with its brown-and-orange livery, had transported some 70,000 passengers.

Germany’s rail sector was liberalised in 1994 but remains dominated by Deutsche Bahn, which carries more than 5.5 million passengers a day and accounts for 99 percent of all long-distance rail journeys.

The Locomore rescue is not the first time Flixbus and Leo Express have teamed up.

The two firms have been linking up their bus and rail services in the Czech Republic since 2015, according to the statement.

Kultur

The German term "Heimat," often translated as "homeland," was long thought of as tacky, regressive, and even politically dubious. But since the election, German politicians across the spectrum are using it once again.

Das Kino

This month's Berlin film festival, Europe's first major cinema showcase in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein revelations, will shine a light on sexual misconduct in the industry, its director said on Tuesday.

Gesundheit

In the run-up to international World Cancer Day on Sunday, experts have said that about half of all cancer cases in Germany could be prevented by a healthier lifestyle. Across the country, around 500,000 people are diagnosed with cancer each year. But experts say things like exercise could cut this figure in half. “Movement can […]